Like this:

I went on Thursday to have a look and then today I went for my induction and first workout. I like it. It has a positive, inclusive atmosphere. It’s a women-only gym. I’m not sure how much, if anything, that’ll add to my experience but the idea I think, is for women to feel less self-conscious, or maybe I’m missing the mark with that. Please feel free to correct me, or give your opinion. I’m open to learning.

There are strength/resistance training machines in a circuit, interspersed with walking/running/free exercise boards and every thirty seconds there’s a voiceover, across the music which says “Please move to the next machine” or something like that. I’m sure I’ll know it by heart after a session or two.

Members come in, scan their card and put their things into a locker, then do two rounds of the circuit, which takes about 30 minutes. After that, there’s stretching and voila, that’s it. At first glance, it looks pretty easy and I wondered if it’s possible to just keep going after the two circuits are completed but after doing my first workout, I get it. As long as you’re really working at the machines and keeping your heart rate up when you get to the boards in between, you should be pretty ready to stop at the end of it.

They encourage extra cardio, walking etc as well and I’ll do both. I’m glad to have joined. I was falling a bit by the wayside with exercise, after the few weeks off. This feels like a good kickstart.

Like this:

It’s been a funny few days. I haven’t gone off the rails, descended into a giant binge or drifted from my goal but I have been disorganised. Apart from Friday night…..

On Friday afternoon, still mildly in the grip of cravings that I couldn’t seem to quell altogether, despite having had a good breakfast, I decided to stop fighting it and instead, plan for it. I had a really good think about what it was I wanted, what would satisfy my want for food indulgence, without leaving me feeling dashed afterwards.

It took a little while of thinking while I did other things but I finally had it. A really good BBQ. With several different sorts of meat. and ice cream with fruit for dessert. Mmmm

So, I went shopping and later my family were treated to a royal feast. We had Thai chicken sausages (low fat, they didn’t know), steak, marinated lamb, pork steak and tiny burger patties (also low fat).

To go with this, we had vege skewers, which I assembled from chopped capsicum, squash, zucchini and mushroom. Also on the menu were corn on the cob, barbecued and a small amount of chips, oven cooked.

If this sounds like a lot of food, that’s because it was. Though it has to be said that the amounts of meat were maybe less than you’re imagining.

Later we had Weiss ice-cream bars, at 80 calories a go, followed by a small plate each of watermelon, pawpaw and mango.

By the end of the night, snuggled on the couch with my family, coffee in hand, watching a movie, I was completely and totally full and cured of any further need to binge. Or even to think about bingeing.

The thing is….that on my plate that night….there was a chicken sausage, corn cob, a few chips, a small part of each other sort of meat and a couple of vege skewers. And I stopped before it was all gone. Because I didn’t need to eat until I felt sick, I just needed that feeling of indulgence. It’s something of triumph actually. I didn’t go overboard. I planned it and I felt good about it…and my family were glad of it too.

I imagine that some people will read this and wonder what all the fuss is about but losing weight and getting fit, as far as I can tell, requires getting past the psychological hurdles we set up for ourselves as much as doing the practical stuff which will get us to our goal.

I know that there are times in my cycle when I feel more hungry, less energetic, needing more comforting things. Now I also know that I can handle it, that I didn’t fall.

Oh, and before I forget, I discovered Cauliflower Rice and it’s delicious and has many fewer calories than white rice rice. (24 calories as opposed to 160 calories per 100 grams)

Here’s the video I got the recipe from. I cooked it for two minutes, covered, in the microwave, instead of adding oil or butter. Still yummo.

For those who arrived here on a search for something quite different, my apologies. This isn’t that. Try the next link, quick! 🙂

I just got home from a 3.2km walk and I feel great. My body continues to astound me. Even after years of neglect and indiff…no, not indifference…not that….more a sort of uncomfortable ignoring…my body rises to every challenge I give it, with hardly a whimper.

Though there was a little whimpering today, it was that last hill. As I crested the rise, I could almost imagine my ankles saying as they creaked under the strain “I’m sorry, are you serious?!”

I, meanwhile was having a fine time in the cool of the morning, bouncing along, so I hushed them gently and kept moving. This morning, I tried a different walk, not a power walk or a timed, heart rate monitor sort of walk, just different to the ones I had yesterday and the day before.

I walked Zac to school, a new habit that we’re both loving. It gives us time to talk and he’s such a pleasure to be with, for me. I waved him goodbye and kept going, up the long road near to our home, realising about 5 minutes in that I hadn’t had breakfast yet. I thought about truncating the walk, worried that I might feel less enthusiastic next time if this walk was too uncomfortable, or if I ran out of energy…..but I didn’t and to say I’m glad of it is a huge understatement!

I walked and walked and walked, one foot in front of the other, up and down hills, zoning out, just taking in the beauty of the morning, the people who smiled at me as they passed and the ‘thump, thump’ of the workout music in my ears, from the ipod in my hand. Until finally, I reached a natural point where I felt it was time to turn around, so I did.

I might have looked like a mad woman in pink, walking, laughing with something akin to elation but that’s okay because today I walked happy and it feels so good.

So ankles, thank you for carrying me around for so long, my apologies for the hills but it’ll get easier from here on in, I promise.